Agatha Christie

Agatha Christie, one of England's most famous mystery novelists and playwrights, had a life as intriguing as any of her literary works. Born into an upper-middle-class family in Devon, she had an interesting and esoteric upbringing, believing her mother to be psychic. She did not play much with other children, but prefered reading and playing with her pets (one was a dog named George Washington).

As a young woman, Christie visited Egypt with her mother - while not interested in Egyptian history or archaeology at the time, it would be an experience that influenced her later works. Upon returning to England, she was a nurse in Devon during World War I.

Following the War, Christie began writing in earnest, publishing her first novel The Mysterious Affair at Styles (starring the enigmatic, mustache-twirling Hercule Poirot) in 1920.

Perhaps the greatest mystery surrounding Christie was her disappearance. In 1926, her husband Archie asked for a divorce, as he was in love with another woman. Christie disappeared for 11 days. By this point she had enough attention as a novelist to warrant attention from The New York Times and a large public outcry. To this day, her disappearance remains a mystery.

In all, Agatha Christie wrote 66 detective novels, 14 short story collections, six romances (under a the pseudonym Mary Westmacott) and multiple play versions of these works. And Then There Were None is Christie's best-selling novel and the best selling detective novel ever. The Mousetrap is the longest-running play in the world. For her contributions to literature, Christie was awarded the title of Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1971.